Cash flow shows up after something else happened. Appreciation shows up after something else happened.
So thinking cash flow and appreciation are how you make money in real estate... that's wrong.
It's like saying the way you make money at your job is your paycheck. No. The way you make money is you showed up and you worked.
The paycheck is just the byproduct. The promised reward at the end of something else happening.
What's the "paycheck" in your portfolio that you've been mistaking for the actual work?